Chapter 27
I'll admit I've done a lot of crazy things in my life. For example I had once jumped off a cliff with Harriet but at least there was a body of water to slightly cushion our fall which was in every way different from jumping out a window that was approximately 900 feet above pure hard concrete and asphalt. Never try it at all not even with a parachute.
The window was hitting on my face as I hang on for dear life on one of the landing skids of Jerry's Bell Jet and the spinning of the Chopper's rotor blades didn't help at all with my situation. I looked at the fuzzy image of Dash who held out his hand and said, "Come on!"
My right arm was keeping me suspended on the skid and also held my gun while my left hand held the briefcase which hindered me from grabbing Dash's hand so I did what any sensible person would have done in this situation.
I tossed the briefcase up and was granted a moment of reprieve when it fell into the Chopper's back space. Only that my reprieve was brief because the momentum of the throw resulted into my right arm losing its edge on the skid. I lost my source of suspension as I felt my arm tag at nothing but empty air and gravity being as cruel as it can be decided it would be in my best interest if I was on the ground rather than in the air. Panic took hold of me and a scream escaped my lungs as I saw the chopper going higher. Or was I going lower? My brain wouldn't process it the only thing I was certain of was that I was falling and I was falling fast. In a matter of seconds I would become ground patty(which would not be appreciated by SpongeBob or Mr. Krabs), my arms flung in the air frantically trying to hold on to something but I felt dread when I realized there was nothing. I heard a muffled shout from above and saw two thin spider webs coming my way. I didn't know if they were real or if they were some kind of mirage but I released my gun and reached out to them regardless.
Praise the Lord, I thought when I felt my right hand grab hold of thick string(I was glad I let my gun go at that point) then my left also grabbed hold but I kept on hurtling down. Two seconds later tension swept through the string and I was hauled up temporarily before my arms gave out and again I was falling through nothing. In mere seconds I span sideways, my fall was stopped shortly by me slamming into a street lamp's pole the impact causing the bulb to shatter and snuffed out it's light before I rolled onto the roof of a blue parked Chevrolet Corvette which was no longer in drivable condition. It's windows were all bashed in, the roof had sunk into the seats and the hood looked like a sandwich when you accidentally drop it.
Blood rushed to my ears, my limbs felt so stiff that I could barely even move my fingers, my ribcage area didn't feel so good I think a few of them may have been broken and bruised. People screamed around the chaos as a few pedestrians edged closer to my still form. I was barely conscious as the paramedics hauled me onto a stretcher.
"Pulse is fading," I heard one say just as another was pumping there hands against my chest. An oxygen hovered above my face and that was the last thing I saw before darkness spread from the edges of my eyes and everything went blank.
Abdul Azizi was a bulky Arabian veteran in his late forties but he was as lean as a thirty year old. "We could do this the easy way or the hard way," he'd said his fingers hovering over a range of metallic instruments. Pliers, pincers, tweezers and surgical blades of all kinds. He reached down for the pincers and swept them a few inches from my eyes making sure I was able to see the blood rusted utensil
"So what's it going to be American?" he asked in his brute Arabic accent.
"Why can't we just have some tea instead huh," I suggested trying to sound calm but my tone didn't foul anyone
"I'm afraid the only thing available right now is your pain and agony," he pinned the edge of my thumbs nail pulling and twisting aggressively. Agony spread from my hand like a wild fire and I howled.
My eyes snapped opened panic stricken and my heart raced. The heart monitor on my left was the proof of that. A woman in white rushed and placed her hand on my chest to keep me from sitting up.
"Ssh," she cooed, "relax you're okay"
It took me a moment to realize that she was a nurse and that I was probably in a hospital. The heart monitor beeped on my right displaying green laser like lines that rose and fell in correspondence with my heartbeat, a tube was attached to my arm and small electrodes with wires attached to my nipples(yes I said nipples deal with it) connected to the heart monitor. The woods on my shoulder, thigh and chin were stitched and dressed appropriately. My head hurt, my chest ached and my legs felt like they were on fire. I lifted my right arm but it's movement was restricted by a pair of cuffs that looped around the bed's guardrail.
"Perfect," I muttered. "How long was I out?"
"Ten hours or so," the nurse tapped her index onto her chin. "You were in bad shape when you were brought in"
"How bad?" I asked.
"You had a shoulder wound that was reopened and the leg wound was infected. You had some loose teeth, a cracked rib and three bruised ribs. Minor head trauma which wasn't something to worry about. You were on the table for one hour," she said.
Well that explained why my body felt like a train wreck.
"I'm glad I survived," I said, "hey would you let the guard know I'm awake"
I was cuffed to the bed so I had to assume that a police officer was watching the door. They probably had a lot of questions for me and I probably had several questions for them.
"Think it's best if you rest a little longer," she suggested, "gain some energy"
"I can't afford to wait and besides I've got plenty of energy," I said and she just nodded and left. One minute later two men wearing brown coats and badges hanging around their necks entered the room.
The first guy had black skin, young looking, beardless, puffy short hair, fit body and he had a soft face with a hard gaze that told you not to get on his bad side. The second guy was black too and looked slightly older than me, he had shave his beard completely from the chin going down but he kept it intact on his upper lip.
I raised my cuffed hand. "Wanna get this off?"
"Not a chance," the hard gazed young guy scowled.
"Calm down Jay," the older man said, "so Mr. Harper would you like to tell me what you were doing at the Empire State building for you to end up like…this." He waved his hand over my whole form.
"Well I wasn't site seeing if that's what you mean," I shrugged which angered Jay.
Jay glowered at me. "Why you mother_"
"Knock it off!" the older man said. "Wait outside and cool off"
Jay was on the verge of protesting but the older man gave him a Stern look. With a frustrated groan Jay marched out and shut the door.
"Nice to see you Chuck," I smiled
"Hey there Jake. You look good," he chuckled. Detective Damian Charles—Chuck in short—worked with the FBI for a while before falling in line with the police force. He had a wife by the name of Loretta King and two kids by the name of Benjamin and Alisha. We met a few years back when a this guy and his gang were harassing a waitress at Timmy's café. Church for one kicked him out of the building but it turns out the guy came back with other five guys with him bound on punishing Chuck for humiliating him. It would have been six against one and Chuck would have gotten his ass kicked for sure but unfortunately for the guy I happened to be having an evening pie at that time so I had to even the odds a bit.
"You should see the other guys," I said
"Which guys? The ones at your house? The crash? Or the suite?" Church asked.
"You licked it with the crash huh," I smiled proudly say him.
"Well we had our doubts but given that one of the vehicles belonged to your friend Nelson," he replied
"Oh," was all I said
"Plus the bodies from the burnt truck were identified as Leon and Nicholaus," he went on, "they were mercenaries same as the other eight mercs we found at your place"
"How did you link them?" I asked though that probably wasn't necessary
"They all had the same tattoo at the back of their necks," he replied. "A small Lichtenberg figure in a circle"
How had I not noticed that in the first place? Oh right I've been fighting them all in the dark so it was hard to notice that.
"Well I guess that makes some sense," I said.
Chuck looked at me with concern in his eyes and I knew what he was going to ask.
"What have you gotten yourself involved in man?" he asked
I sighed. Usually it wasn't recommended for any CIA Intel to be shared with the common folk but I trusted Chuck and in a way he trusted me as well.
"Some nasty organization wants to get a hold of nuclear codes," I said and filled him in on what was going on. At the end Chuck looked like he wasn't believing his ears or at least he was choosing not to listen to them.
"So you have everything under control?" he asked
"Yeah for now," I replied, "but there's still a lot of question marks"
"Yeah? Like what?"
"An organization by the name of Tonitruum. You heard of it?"
"Afraid not son," he shook his head.
"Hey can you get me anything on Spencer Crane?" I asked and his face flashed with recognition. "You know him don't you?"
"Heard of him. A notorious well known mercenary in Europe. He doesn't quit and has a strong relationship with Darley Lake"
"Darley Lake?"
"Yeah we found him dead on you front porch with keys in his throat," he said.
"Oh that was Darley," I said clearly remembering that not so long ago I had fought with him. "Was it a sexual relationship?"
"No more like adopted brothers"
Shit, I thought. If I killed Darley then it was safe to say that Spencer has a grudge, either against me alone or the whole of Harriet's team which probably meant that I hadn't seen the last of him.
Chuck eyed me curiously. "You're the one whole fucked him up aren't you?"
"Yep," I replied begrudgingly. Chuck nodded in understanding. "So…about this," I pointed at my cuffed wrist.
"Oh right sorry," he said.
Chuck's hand went in one of his coat's pockets. He fished out a silver key, walked over to me and unlocked my cuffs. I sighed as I rubbed my right wrist in my left hand.
"I hate to ask but is it over?" Chuck replied
"I highly doubt that," I said and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. My plastic hospital robe draped over my feet.
"I don't think the nurse would appreciate that," Chuck stated.
"Yeah I know," I chuckled. "I need to borrow your phone"
He handed me his smartphone.
"Thanks," I said. I called Nelson's cell.
"Hello?" he said
"Hey man did you miss me?" I grinned.